Sickness
by Vulture lord
Summary: Iwagakure has fallen silent and the joint team sent by the other villages, have failed to respond. A new team has been sent to discover the reason why the first team failed to respond. But instead they will discover the horrible reason why Iwagakure has fallen silent.
1. Chapter 1

Iwagakure, one of the five great shinobi villages, has fallen silent. All activity surrounding the village has stopped. There was no longer any Iwagakure shinobi patrolling the village border, and the village gate was closed. Communication between Iwagakure and the other shinobi villages has stopped.

The last message that the other villages received from them was," Stay away". This of course brought great suspicion between the villages; believing that Iwagakure was planning something. Patrols were greatly increased in the other villages and their shinobi were in high alert for suspicion activity.  
Two weeks have passed since Iwagakure's last communication; and any messenger hawks sent by the other villages never return. Not even Iwagakure Daimyo knew the reason for Iwagakure silence, and the messenger hawks that he sent never returned as well. After another week with no activity, Iwagakure Daimyo asked the other villages for help. He needed them to discover the reason his shinobi village has fallen silent. The Kages called for an emergency meeting to discuss this new development, and after a couple of hours of discussion; they agree on a joint operation.

They will send two shinobi from each village, an eight man team to establish contact with Iwagakure. The team will consist of two ANBU from Konohagakure, two Jounin from Kumogakure, one Jounin and one Chunin from Kirigakure, and finally two ANBU from Sunagakure. There mission is to establish contact with the village and discover the reason for their silence. Once that is complete, they will send messenger hawks to their respected villages, reporting their findings. At least that was the plan until they lost communication with them, the last message they receive was that they arrived at the village gate.

...

"Shizune, what the status report on our joint operation with the other villages?" asked a blonde hair woman as she looked at her black hair friend/ attendant. The blonde hair woman was Tsunade, the fifth Hokage of the hidden leaf. She was sitting down, surrounded by piles of paperwork. And her friend / attendant was putting down more paperwork on her desk. Tsunade looked at the growing pile with hatred.

"I am sorry to report Lady Tsunade, that there is no new update."

Sighing, Tsunade open the right drawer and pull out a blank parchment; where she quickly wrote a quick message. Putting down the quill, she grabbed the stamp sitting right next to the parchment and stamped the official Hokage seal on the paper. "Here, I want this sent to the Daimyo. We need him to contact the other villages Daimyos" the blonde Hokage said as she handed the parchment to Shizune.

"Right away Lady Tsunade" said Shizune as she rolled the parchment up. She gave her friend/leader a quick bow and headed for the door. Before exiting the room, she turned around and said," Don't forget to get the paperwork done, and I better not catch you drinking instead of working Lady Tsunade" and with that she quickly exited the room heading for the messaging center.

Tsunade stared at the closed wooden door for a minute, waiting to see if her friend truly left. Once she deemed it was safe, she reached for the bottle of Sake that she kept hidden underneath her desk.


	2. Chapter 2

"My lord, a letter just arrived. It from the Hokage"

"Bring it here" spoke the most powerful man in the Land of Fire. The Fire Daimyo is an elderly man with a clean-shaven face and look to be in his thirties instead of his ripe age of sixty.

He doesn't let his job get to him, believing that stress well cause him to drastically age. So he lets his advisers do most of the work, and when there a hard choice the needs to be made;he simply lets his advisors make the choice for him. And if that choice come back to bite him, all he has to do is simply shift the blame to his advisors since they did technically make the choice for him.

The only thing he personally has to do is attend the occasional meetings between the other countries Daimyos, but those meetings rarely happen. As his servant brought him the letter, he thought of the current Hokage, remembering his disappointment when Jiraiya wasn't selected to be the next Hokage when Hiruzen died. Instead Tsunade was selected, not that he has a problem with her being Hokage. It just that Jiraiya is more fun to be around and he is also a Sannin. Plus he also wrote that excellent work of literature; he has the complete Icha Icha series given to him by no other than the Toad Sannin himself. "I wonder when the next novel is coming out" he thought to himself as the servant handed him the letter.

He quickly read the contents on the letter to see what the Hokage want. It seem that the joint team that was assembled to establish contact with Iwagakure, has failed to respond and the Hokage was requesting him to call another Daimyos meeting. She want him to request that the other Daimyos send another joint shinobi team. He doubts that the others would agree to that request, none are willing to risk more of their shinobi. But he would call for this meeting anyway since he owes Tsunade a favor. "I want you to send a message to the other Daimyos. Tell them that I call for an emergency meeting."  
"It will be done my lord" said the servant as he bow to the Fire Daimyo. The Fire Daimyo watch as the servant quickly exit the room. When the man left, he sighed to himself wishing that he could just skip this meeting or at least send one of his advisers instead.

...

Three days has passed since Tsunade sent the letter, and still she hasn't receive a response yet. And worse she hasn't even started on the paperwork, by now the papers tower over her. No longer can she continue ignoring it. Just thinking of doing all that work was giving her a headache, or maybe it was because she was hung over. Ever way, she is not going to do all that work by herself. Maybe she can convince Shizune to do it for her. Speaking of her she just enter the room.

"Lady Tsunade, a message has just arrived from the Daimyo"

"Was he successful in convincing the other Daimyos?"

"I am sorry Lady Tsunade, but they refused send another team. They don't want to risk anymore of their shinobi. The good news is that the Earth Daimyo agreed to allow us to send in another team into his country and the Fire Daimyo gave us permission to send as many shinobi as we want."

"So we are on our own it seems."

"Yes Lady Tsunade"

"Alright, bring me Kakashi, Yamato, Yugao, Anko, Gai, Hana, and Shikaku. Tell them I have a mission for them."


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note Thank you Rosebunse for the review. I read your review and I fully agree that the formatting was a little weird. I made some changes and hopefully it is better. And to everyone reading this fanfic, I want you to tell me any spelling or grammars mistakes I made in the reviews.

...

"Hatake, the Hokage request your presence immediately" spoke a masked ANBU.

"I will be right there" Kakashi lazily responded as he pulled out his copy of Icha Icha Paradise. He open to a random page and pretended to be reading it. After a couple of minutes of perverted giggling, he finally look up from his book to see if the ANBU left. He was still there, and from the look of his stance he appears to be annoyed that he was being ignored.

"Still there I see"

"I am under orders to bring you to the Hokage myself. She believes that if left alone to your own devices, you will wonder around the village until another shinobi is sent to retrieve you. So she sent me to cut the chances of that happening by having me escort you there; by force if necessary."

"I see. Well let not keep the Hokage waiting then" Kakashi replied as he put his book back in his back pocket.

...

"Good to see you arrive on time Kakashi" said a certain blonde hair Hokage.

"Well I did had a little help getting here on time" Kakashi replied as he survey the room, looking to see who else was here. To his right stood Hana, next to her stood Yugao, and standing next to the female ANBU was Shikaku. To he left stood Yamato, to the left of the male ANBU stood the crazy snake lady Anko, and next to her stood his so-called rival Gai. And speaking of him, the second he realized that his eternal rival has finally arrived; he rushed over to his side proclaiming the wonders of youth and how he was finally going to beat his hip rival.

"Gai! Quiet down or so help me I will tape your mouth shut" Tsunade shouted. After making sure that he wasn't going to continue talking about the wonders of youth, she turned to face the assembled shinobi.

"I am sure many of you are wondering why I called you here for. I have summoned you here to find the missing joint shinobi team. As you know, Iwagakure has fallen silent and not even their Daimyo can contact them. So he turned to the other shinobi villages for help. A joint team was assembled to discover the reason for Iwagakure silence and report their findings. The problem is we lost contact with them five days ago. That is why I summoned you here, you seven are to find the missing shinobi. That is your primary goal. Your secondary goal is to discover the reason for Iwagakure silence. Is that clear!"

"Yes Ma'am" the assembled shinobi replied.

"Good then, you're dismiss."


	4. Chapter 4

After a couple of days of travel, they have finally arrived at Iwagakure border. The tall imposing stone walls were visible from where the team was resting. Traveling through the mountains have taken a toll on them, and they were using this brief period of rest to recover from the journey. While the rest of the team was resting, Kakashi who was appointed team leader before they began their journey, is writing a mission report. Telling the Hokage that they have reached the village.

Once he was finish,he rolled up the parchment and put it in his Jounin vest pocket. With his hands now unoccupied, he quickly did the hand signs of the dog, the boar, the bird, the monkey, and finally ending with the sign of the ram. He slammed his left hand on the ground, while saying "Kuchiyose no Jutsu."  
Strange kanji letters appear around the area where he slammed his left hand. What follow was a puff of smoke, and once the smoke clear away; a small pug is seen sitting down where the summoning array once was.

"Hey Kakashi, what can I do for you" the small pug asked.

"Hello Pakkun, I need you to deliver this letter to the Hokage" Kakashi replied as he reached into his Jounin vest pocket, pulling out the letter.

"Oh. You want me to deliver a letter to **her**."

"Come on, don't be so silly, she isn't that bad."

"Kakashi did I ever mention that you're a terrible liar?"

"Maybe, I probably wasn't even paying attention when you said it. Oh, come on don't give me that look. How about I buy you a nice juicy steak if you do this."

"No you weren't"

"It the thought that counts, right?"

"Fine, hand it over" Pakkun grouchily responded as Kakashi handed him the rolled up letter. He picked up the letter with his mouth and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. With that done, Kakashi turn around to face his team and immediately sweat drop at the sight.

Gai was doing push up while proclaiming that if he couldn't do a thousand push up before the break was over, then he would run around the village ten times. And if he couldn't do that, then he would run around the entire country in one day. If he failed to do that, then he would walk back to Konohagakure on his hands while balancing a boulder on his feet. Finally having enough of his rant, Anko kick him, sending him flying to the nearby tree.

"Isn't that bit too extreme" Yamato asked.

"He was starting to get on my nerves with his ranting. Why do you have a problem with that?"

"No, no. I perfectly understand."

"Good" Anko replied with a sickly sweet smile.

"Troublesome woman" said the pineapple shape head member of their team.

"Oh. Do you have a problem with me Shikaku" Anko asked with a dark aura surrounding her. Instead of replying, Shikaku merely continue watching the clouds, while thinking how troublesome this mission was. Ignoring the drama that was unfolding in front of him, Kakashi turn to face the other two members of his team. Hana was feeding her dogs, while Yugao was keeping watch from the top of a tree. Making sure that they won't be ambush by bandits or enemy shinobi. Seeing that her leader was staring in her direction, Yugao jump down from the tree and approach him.

"What is our goals now?" she asked him. After making sure that his team was paying attention, he responded.

"We are going to enter the city by climbing over the wall."

"Can't we just walk up the wall or go through the village gate" Anko asked.

"Afraid not. The gate has a sealing array, that prevents unidentified personal from opening them. And we can't punch a hole through it because of the same sealing array, strengthens the stone making it nearly unbreakable. The wall is a recent addition to the village defense. It was built after the Third Shinobi World War. It is strengthened by the same sealing array, and it is covered with chakra sensitive paper bombs. So, if we were to walk up the wall, the chakra that we are sending to the soles of our feet will activate the paper bombs. That is why, we have to climb over the wall."

"How are we going to climb the wall, if none of us brought rope" asked Yugao.

"Can't Yamato use his earth release to raise a platform to take us over the wall" Hana asked.

"No he can't." Shikaku replied.

"Shikaku is correct. The paper bombs has a detection radius of fifty feet and using a Jutsu like that within the detection range will set off the paper bombs. And the paper bombs have a long explosive radius. We also can't use summons to get us over the wall since they use chakra to maintain their presence in our world" Yamato said.

"Isn't such a defense counter intuitive, since their shinobi won't be able to use chakra near the wall" Hana asked.

"No, the paper bombs detection radius is only on this side of the wall. The other side is safe, meaning that they can use chakra without worrying they will set off the paper bombs. Also the paper bombs can be deactivated" Kakashi replied.

"Can't we set them off from a safe distance and then walk up the wall once all the paper bombs has been set off. Also how do we know that they are even activated" Anko asked.

"The reason why we know that they are activated, is because the Earth Daimyo sent in his own men to discover the reason his shinobi village has fallen silent. The second they tried to walk up the wall they set off the explosive. Their remains were found by the second group that the Daimyo sent. The reasons why we can't just set them off, is because not only is that dangerous; it is also pointless. The sealing array replaces any detonated paper bombs. Whoever designed this seal was certainly a master" Kakashi answered.

"That bring us back to the problem. How are we going to climb the wall without any rope" Yugao asked.

"Don't worry, I will run back to Konohagakure and retrieve us a rope" Gai exclaimed as he prepare to run back to the hidden leaf, until he was stopped by Kakashi.

"That won't be necessary, Gai for I already brought us a rope."

"Ah! I should have known that my eternal rival would have come prepare. But I will beat you one day Kakashi."

"Did you say something?" Kakashi asked as Gai face faulted.


	5. Chapter 5

Author note Thank you Rosebunse, for the review. I will certainly go back and fix that once this character is submitted.

...

Climbing the wall was an easy feat for the highly trained shinobi. They have spent most of their lives training, so their bodies were at peak condition. Once they made it to the top of the wall, they used the high vantage point to scout ahead.

What they saw shocked them to their core. The shinobi village was a ghost town. There was no activity or signs of life for miles. No villagers walking down the roads, no shinobi patrolling the rooftops. It was completely devoid of life. But that wasn't the worst part, they also saw something equally disturbing. The village was in shambles, it look like a war broke out in the village. Buildings were destroyed, glass and debris littered the roads. They also saw level earth, most likely from an earth type jutsu.

"What the hell happened here?" Anko shouted.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling that we're about to find out" Kakashi ominously replied.

...

"Lady Tsunade, a heavily injured man appear at our village gate! He is apart of the shinobi team we sent to investigate Iwagakure silence!" Shizune shouted as she burst into the room.

"You mean he is part of the missing shinobi team? Where was he taken?" Tsunade asked as she got up from her chair.

"Yes, Lady Tsunade. He was taken to the emergency room" Shizune replied as she followed Tsunade out the door, heading for the village hospital.

...

"What is our goals now, Kakashi" Yugao asked.

"Our first goal is to get the village gates open, so we can let Hana and her dogs in. Then we will use their tracking abilities to find the missing shinobi team. Once they're located, we will head to the Kage tower to find out what happen to the village"Kakashi replied.

"Okay, let go" Anko said as she prepare to jump off the wall.

"Wait! We don't know what happen here, so we must be on high alert." Kakashi said to Anko and his team. Once they acknowledge his warning, Kakashi jumped to the nearest building with his teammates not far behind him.

...

Hana was standing by the village gates, waiting for Kakashi and the others to let her in. She wasn't able to go with them because she didn't want to leave her dogs behind. Even if they were highly trained shinobi dogs and it will only be for a moment. It didn't feel right, so she decided to stay with them until Kakashi open the gates.

While waiting for her teammates, Hana was thinking about the mission or more specifically why she was chosen to go instead of her mother. Her mother was more experience and a better tracker than her, so why was she chosen. When she ask the Hokage back in the village, all she got was that she needed more experience. If she needed more experience, then why send her to such a high-profile mission. Surely there is some low profile mission that she could have gone on, to get more experience on tracking. The Hokage should have chosen someone else instead, but that is in the past now. She should be focusing on the mission right now. It doesn't matter if there are better trackers than her who could have gone in her place. The Hokage has chosen her to go, and she will not let her down. She will find the missing shinobi team, even if that is the last thing she does.

Just as she finish her resolve, the village gate open. She headed to the now open entrance, but stop when she noticed that her dogs weren't following her. She turned around to face them and ask what is wrong. They replied that they didn't like the smell coming from the village. She was about to ask them what they meant until the smell hit her. She smell ash and **death** in the air.


	6. Chapter 6

"Hana, something wrong?" Yamato ask. Noticing that she wasn't moving. She is just standing there staring at her dogs, and her expression was starting to worry him. He wasn't the only one to notice Hana strange behavior, Kakashi approach her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"What wrong?" he ask her. The question snap her out of the trance she seem to be in. "I am fine, it just that I smelled something horrible in the air. But that isn't the only thing, it the feeling that the village is emitting. It feels like there something in there, something that wants to get out" Hana replied with a pale face.

"What is it that you smell?" Anko asked.

"Ash and death"

"Well the smell wouldn't be to surprising since the village is in complete ruin. We passed by a couple of burnt down buildings, and we found blood on the walls and floors of the still standing buildings. Even though it weeks old, I am sure it is still emitting a smell, and since your clan is renowned for their tracking abilities. I wouldn't be surprised that you're able to pick up the faint smell" Yugao said.

"But don't you feel the ominous feeling that the village is emitting?"

"No, what I believe you're feeling is the stress of the mission, since this is your first S-ranked mission. And the smells you're smelling isn't helping with calming down."

"No, Hana right. I felt it the second I entered the village. The lack of life and the state the village is in, is only increasing the feeling" Anko said

.  
"What we feel doesn't matter, what does matter is completing the mission. We still have to find the missing shinobi team and discover what happen to the village" Yugao said while crossing her arms.

"Yugao right, we need to find them. Some of them have family and they want to know what happen to them. Even if all we find is their remains, it will give them closure. And we're highly trained shinobi. I doubt that there are many people who want to mess with us" Kakashi said with an eye smile.

"I am sure Iwagakure thought the same, and look what happen to them" Hana replied.

"What do you think happen to the village, Shikaku" Gai ask. Shikaku put his right hand on his chin and closed his eyes. After contemplating the question, he open his eyes and answer.

"Well it is possible that Iwagakure destroyed itself with a civil war. Their economy was failing and their crops were mysteriously dying. With the lack of jobs and food, the people may have started revolting. And this wouldn't be the first time it happen in history. During the Clan Wars, a group of smaller clans decided to form their own alliances to match the power and influence of the Uchiha and Senju. They built a village that would act as their headquarters, in what is now known as the Land of Honey. Even though their plan was ingenious at the time, jobs were still being sent to either the Uchiha or the Senju. Misfortune seems to be following them, since a year later a terrible plague destroyed their crops. Cutting off one of their main food source. What happen next was no surprise. The clans started bickering with each other, blaming the others for their misfortune. Eventually, the tension and suspicion became too much and war broke out. They wipe themselves out. But the chances of Iwagakure wiping themselves out with a civil war is less than ten percent. There would have been rumors of the war and neither side tried to contact the other villages for help. There also the lack of bodies, if there was a civil war then where are the bodies of the decease. Unless the war is still going on, what is unlikely since we haven't encounter anyone. There is no one left to retrieve the remains of their fallen comrades. There is the chance that the survivors of the war, may have left the ruined village to begin anew somewhere else. But that is also unlikely because there would have been rumors and sighting of mass migration of people. The only way we will know what happen to the village is to head to the Kage tower, I guarantee that there would be some document there that would shed some light on this mystery."

"Well then, let head to the Kage tower" Gai said, heading to the tower.

"Wait Gai, discovering what happen to the village is our secondary goal. Our primary goal is to find the missing shinobi team" Kakashi said stopping Gai from going any further.

"You know what I found strange, is the lack of chakra. The only chakra I sense is coming from us, but other than that I sense nothing for miles" Yamato said.

"They could be suppressing their chakra to keep their presence hidden" Gai replied.

"That is true, but the question is why would they suppress their chakra, if the village is completely devoid of life. They also have no reason to stay hidden, since the Earth Daimyo gave them permission to enter the country" Yamato counter.

"That is a good question, but standing here won't help us find them. We have a mission to do and I want everyone to be on high alert. Hana take point, Yamato and Yugao follow us on the rooftops, Anko I want you to cover our rear, and Shikaku I need you to scout ahead" Kakashi order as everyone got into their positions. Once that was done, Kakashi reached into his pocket and pulled out a sealing scroll. He open the small scroll and pumped chakra into the center of the sealing array. A puff of smoke appear and once it cleared away, Kakashi was holding a grey long sleeve shirt. He handed the shirt to Hana explaining to her that the shirt belong to one of the missing shinobi. Nodding at Kakashi explanation, Hana lower the shirt. Letting her dogs get a whiff of the scent. After the dogs were familiarize with the scent, Hana handed the shirt back to Kakashi who seal it away. The dogs immediately split up trying to find the scent. They expertly avoided stepping on the broken glass that littered the streets. When one of them found the scent, he immediately alerted the others. And with that they follow their first lead in finding the missing shinobi team.

...

"Sir! The Mizukage is asking for more reinforcement! She believe that without our help, then her village would fall!" said a Kumogakure shinobi. Turning from the window overlooking the village, the Raikage replied to the shinobi.

"Tell her to ask the other villages. We have enough to deal with here and if she can't handle the situation then she doesn't deserve to be a Kage."

"Right away sir!" the shinobi said as he quickly disappear, leaving the Kage to his thoughts.

...

The deeper they went into the village, the stronger the smell of ash increased. Eventually the dogs lost the scent, do to the smell. What was causing the smell, there was no burnt buildings nearby. So what could it be. Their question was eventually answer but they were unprepared for the revelation.

"Kakashi, you need to see this" Shikaku said his face a little green. Before Kakashi can ask what was wrong, Shikaku was on the move; heading to the marketplace of the village. Kakashi and the others immediately follow, wondering what was wrong.

The smell of ash was getting stronger the closer they got to the marketplace. What they saw at the marketplace will forever haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Piles of bodies stacked on top of each other or at least what remain. As they were nothing more than **burnt bones**.


	7. Chapter 7

"What the hell happen here!" Anko shouted. While behind her, Hana was emptying the contents of her stomach on the stone paved road. This is the first time that Hana witness such a terrible sight. So, when she saw the bodies; she couldn't stop the rush of vomit that was trying to escape her mouth. Falling on her hands and knees, she vomited on the road. After a while she stop vomiting, but when the stench of decay hit her sensitive nose; she quickly began again. The others were better at controlling their gag reflex, because of their experiences and witnessing their own fair share of death. Hana had neither, because of her youth and her lack of experiences. Since she never took any mission higher than a C-rank. preferring to stay in the village and run her animal clinic. The only experiences with death, is when she attend funerals. She never witness the violent death of someone. Witnessing as they slowing die, the light fading from their eyes. So, she was unprepared for the sight in front of her.

From the looks of it, the bodies were stacked on top of each other before they were set on fire. Some of the charred bones still had flesh on it, and pieces of fabric was fuse with the remaining flesh.

As Hana finished emptying her stomach, Shikaku approach the pile; examining the remains. Most of the corpses were probably villagers since they didn't have a Hitai-ate, but there was some Iwagakure shinobi in the pile.

"Why would they burn the bodies?" he thought as he thoroughly examine the corpses for any clues.

"What do you think happen here Shikaku" Kakashi ask the lazy genius. Sighing he turn around to face the others.

"Well before I examined the bodies, I came up with many possible conclusions. The first one, is that this may be the work of the Saisei. A large cult that has members worldwide. They are obsess with the idea of rebirth, believing that once a person approaches death; the only way to be reborn in the world is to be cleanse of their sins. So the person on their death beds would be set on fire, since they believe fire to be pure and capable of cleansing them of their sins. The only reason they are still around is because they have members in high positions of power. And add that they only practice this ritual on followers of their religion. At least that was true a year ago, but recently the cult had a radical change of view. Believing that the world was full of sins, and because that the process of rebirth has been halted. And the only way to continue the cycle of rebirth, is to cleanse the world of sins."

"I heard about them. Didn't they set a couple of villages ablaze in the Land of Tea a month ago?" Yamato ask.

"Yes that was them. They usually target villages that don't have shinobi villages nearby."

"If they don't target villages that have shinobi villages nearby, then why do you think that this was their work?" Anko ask.

"There have been disturbing rumors that they were recruiting missing shinobi into their ranks. That they were planning to attack one of the great shinobi villages. In fact we were planning a joint operation with the other villages to take them out, but when Iwagakure went silent it was put aside in favor of discovering why Iwagakure went silent. Iwagakure has a history of betraying their allies when the opportunity arises, so when the Tsuchikage stopped attending the meetings and all communication with Iwagakure ceased. The other villages began to suspect that Iwagakure may have sided with the cult, planning on overthrowing the other villages. Leaving Iwagakure as the only super power left. And of course with Iwagakure failing economy and their depleting food source, it may have cause them to become desperate. Further adding to the suspicion, but the other village couldn't send a team to investigate. Since they didn't have proof that Iwagakure had sided with the cult, and they weren't willing to risk war if they were proven wrong. So the villages left Iwagakure alone, raising their defense and putting their shinobi on high alert. After weeks with no activity happening, they were approached by the Earth Daimyo asking for their help. When the Daimyo asked the Kages for help to discover the reason his shinobi village has fallen silent, they eagerly agreed. Seeing this as a chance to finally investigate Iwagakure without the risk of starting a war. Anyway let get back on the topic on why I first believed that Saisei was responsible for the scene in front of us. The Saisei may have had members inside the village, sabotaging a few key areas to distract the shinobi. While a small group knocks out the shinobi guarding the gate. Letting in their main invading force. But here is where I run into a hole in the theory, even if the Saisei were recruiting missing shinobi into their ranks. There is no missing shinobi strong enough to overpower a Kage, the only exception being the Akatsuki. We know very little about their motives, but I doubt that the Akatsuki would allied themselves with the cult. So they lack the man power to overthrow the Kage. There is the possibility that they may had someone on the inside, drug the Tsuchikage rendering helpless in stopping the invading forces. But even that is unlikely since the Tsuchikage is a very paranoid man. Bringing the likely hood that the Saisei were responsible for the fall of the village, down by a lot. And after I examined the bodies, it completely destroyed that theory. Since the bodies were long dead before they were set on fire, and the Saisei believe that the only way to be reborn is to be cleanse of your sins before you die. So this couldn't be the work of the Saisei."

"What is your other theory then?" Kakashi ask.

"The village may have been wiped out by a new strain of influenza. It isn't uncommon that entire villages would be wiped out by disease and sickness. In fact the Land of Waves lost half of their population after the Second Shinobi World War, do to a new strain of bird flu. Iwagakure may have been hit by a new strain of influenza, and it wouldn't be surprising that the virus manage to spread throughout the village do to the state Iwagakure was in. Their crops were dying, losing a large portion of their food source. The Tsuchikage would have imposed rations to conserve their remaining food source. And do to the village failing economy, the village healthcare would have taken a huge budget cut. So taking into account of the village poor diets and the lack of healthcare, it would have made an excellent breeding ground for a new strain of influenza. The first few cases would have been ignored, believing that they were just infected with the common flu. And these ignored cases would unintentionally spread the virus to others, and then those new carriers would spread the virus to others. This cycle would continue for while until eventually most of the population is infected. Face with a pandemic, the Tsuchikage would have ordered a quarantine to prevent the new strain from spreading. This would explain the last message we received from them to stay away. They didn't want to risk the chance of the virus escaping quarantine. And it would explain why they were burning the bodies, because it is common practice to burn the remains of the decease to eliminate the chances of the virus spreading and to prevent diseases from spreading. Since burying the corpses would take to long and the decaying flesh would provide excellent breeding ground for bacteria. Of course even this theory isn't sound proof, because even though if the virus had a hundred percent mortality rate; there would still be people would are naturally immune to the strain. So least say that less than point one percent of the village population survived the outbreak and the chaos, that would leave a few hundred alive. So the survivors would try to leave the village, since they have no longer any reason to stay and there would be no shinobi to stop them. The survivors would be villagers, since any shinobi left alive would have left when the pandemic took a turn for the worse. So that means that the only way they could leave the village is to go through the main gate, and as we saw the village gate was still close. The last clue that disproves this theory is the condition of the skulls. If you take a closer look on them, you would notice that each one of them has a puncture hole. Mostly likely caused by a kunai. So that would raise the question on why would the sick be killed. It is possible that the Tsuchikage was becoming desperate on containing the outbreak, so he would have order the execution of the infected. But even that is highly unlikely, because no matter how loyal a shinobi is to their leader, they will not be willing to kill their own family members. So an outbreak being the possible cause of the village demise is highly unlikely. Which brings me to my other theory. That this may have been a warning. Maybe the people were revolting, do to a lack of food and jobs. And the Tsuchikage may have ordered a public execution to set an example on what happens if you revolt. I can tell you many possible theories on what happen here, but we won't know until we head to the Kage tower and find some documents that would explain what happen."

"Well we will head to the Kage tower, after we find the missing shinobi team. Hana do you think that your dogs can find the scent again" Kakashi ask turning to face her.

"I believe so, but we will need to get far away from here, since the smell is overwhelming their sensitive nose." Hana replied, her face still pale from terrifying site in front of her.

"Alright, same positions as last time. Let move out"

...

"Ah! Sasuke I need you to collect a few specimen for me. Make sure that they are still moving" spoke the Snake Sannin while flashing Sasuke a crazed smile. Orochimaru was sitting on a throne like chair, inside a poorly lit room. And to his right stand his loyal assistant Kabuto. After seeing that his new 'apprentice' was still standing there, he ask,"Well aren't you going to go."

"No. Do it yourself" said the stoic avenger.

"Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke" Orochimaru said while shaking his head. "I thought you said that you will do everything I say, and in return I promised to make you stronger. Don't you want to kill your brother, Sasuke." In the mention of his brother, Sasuke's eyes flashed red.

"Don't you dare mention that bastard in front of me. I will KILL ITACHI!"

"Good, in return of doing this small favor for me. I will give you the power to kill Itachi." Instead of replying, Sasuke's eyes returned to their original color. He turn around and left the room without saying any other word. Smiling in his success, Orochimaru turn to face his assistant.

"Kabuto, I want you to prepare a room for our new specimens."

"It will be done Lord Orochimaru."

...

"What are we going to do now Leader-Sama?" ask a huge cloak man with a wrapped sword on his back.

"We will still continue capturing the Tailed Beasts. What is happening outside is irrelevant. In fact we will use this distraction to capture the Tailed Beasts more easily, and once we have all the Tailed Beasts, the world will know PAIN."


	8. Chapter 8

"Alright, let set up camp in one of these houses" Kakashi said, noticing the setting sun. They have been following the trail for hours, and still haven't found the location of the missing shinobi team. Iwagakure was a large village, surpassing Konohagakure in size. Along the way they have discovered more cremation sites, and Shikaku hypothesis that there probably more scattered throughout the village. The closer they got to the village center, the more the environment was destroyed. Buildings were nothing more than collapse rubble, and the ones still standing were slowing falling apart. Kakashi ordered Yamato and Yugao to stop following them on the rooftops, because the buildings were becoming more unstable the closer they got to the center of the village. He was worry that the sudden added weight would cause one of the buildings to collapse, probably injuring one of his team members. His worries were proven correct when one of the buildings to the right suddenly collapse. After witnessing the building collapse, Yamato and Yugao joined Kakashi and the others on the road.

After a couple of minutes of searching, they found an apartment complex that was left virtually unscathed and least likely to suddenly collapse on their heads the second they enter the building. The first floor was a grand lobby with a marble fountain in the center. To the right of the lobby was an open doorway that leads to the stairway, and to the left of the lobby was a closed-door. At the very back of the lobby was the mail slots, where renters who go to pick up their daily mail.

But like everywhere else in the village, the lobby look like a war zone. There was papers scattered all over the floor, and the top of the fountain was found crumble on the floor. There was kunais and shurikens either laying on the floor or pierce through the walls of the lobby, and to complete the image there was bloodstains on the walls and floor of the lobby.

Ignoring the sight in front of them, Kakashi and the others immediately headed over to the stairways. Climbing the stairs to the second floor, they began searching the rooms. Looking for one that wasn't cover in blood or destroy. They eventually found a room that meet their criteria. Room A8 was spotless, no blood spattered on the walls nor was there any furniture overturned. It was most likely that the room was vacant at the time when Iwagakure went silent, so it manage to escape unscathed.

"This would do. Yamato I want you to take the first watch, then you would wake Anko in an hour, and Anko would wake Gai. Yugao you're next after Gai, then Hana. Then Shikaku and I would take the last watch until morning. Yamato I want you to be in high alert. Just because it seems we're alone, doesn't mean we're alone."

"I will place a couple of traps at the door, that would alert us if someone trying to get in" Yamato replied.

"Good. As for everyone else I suggest you get enough shut-eye because we will continue our search in the morning."

...

The Land of Iron was consider neutral territory, and if any shinobi village tried to invade this country then they will face the wraith of the other villages. The Land of Iron was also known for their strong military forces, mostly made up of samurai. Making it an ideal place to evacuate the Daimyos to. At least that was the plan, but most of the Daimyos weren't evacuated in time. The only ones that were able to make it there in one piece, were the Daimyos of the five great shinobi villages. The Daimyos were evacuated to ensure the continuity of government, should the shinobi villages fall.

...

"Baki, what is the status of the other villages" Gaara ask his advisor.

"Kumogakure is reporting that they are clear at the moment, and we lost contact with Kirigakure an hour ago. We still haven't been able to establish contact with Konohagakure. At this point it is safe to assume that Konohagakure has fallen."

"I see. Have you establish contact with Jiraiya yet?"

"Not yet Kazekage, but I am sure that he and Naruto are just fine."

"I am not worry, I know that Naruto can take care of himself."

...

"Hey Pervy Sage, where are we?"

"We are at Mount Myoboku, and I wasn't planning on bringing you here until you were much older. But desperate times calls for desperate action. I brought you here to help teach you about Sage Mode."

...

True to his words, as soon as the sun rose over the horizon; the team were up and moving. And by mid-day they will have found one of the shinobi of the missing shinobi team, or at least his remains.

"What the hell happen to him!" Anko shouted. They have found one of the ANBU that Sunagakure had sent in the joint team. They were barely able to identify him because all that remained was his lower half of body. The rest was splattered on the wall behind him. The only way they were able to identify him, was the type of pant he was wearing and the charred pieces of his ANBU mask that they found scattered on the floor. After examining the body and searching the ANBU belongings, Shikaku answer.

"He committed suicide. At first I wasn't sure, but when I examined his remains I discovered that the remaining flesh has third degree burns. Meaning that his possible cause of death was a low-level explosive tag, commonly used by Sunagakure ANBU to breach buildings. He must have applied one on his chest before activating it, ending his life. And before you ask, I rule out the possibility that he was murdered. The first obvious clue is the lack of a struggle. The second is that the explosive tag belongs to him. Sunagakure ANBU are required to have thirty high level explosive tags and ten low-level explosive tags with them at all times. And after checking his supplies, he is missing one. So, unless the murderer is highly skill enough to steal one without being caught and quick enough to place one on him without him struggling, then the only logical conclusion left is that he kill himself"

"If what you're saying is correct, then why did he killed himself?" Yamato ask the lazy genius.

"I don't know. As I said that there was no sign of a struggle, so it highly unlikely that he was surrounded by enemy forces. So the possible cause that drove him to suicide is unknown."


	9. Chapter 9

"The seven tails has been successfully extracted. Our next target is the eight tails" spoke the leader of the Akatsuki.

"What about the nine tails?" ask Kisame.

"Zetsu hasn't been able to find the location of the nine tails."

"He was last seen with Jiraiya in the Land of Tea" spoke the white side of Zetsu.

"He will turn up soon" spoke the other side of Zetsu.

"When he appears we will strike, but until then our target is the eight tails."

"Then why the fuck are we standing around here. Let go capture this heathen" spoke the loud-mouth Jashinist.

"Hidan, will you shut up. Your loud voice is annoying me" spoke the masked shinobi standing next to the Jashinist.

"Fuck you Kakuzu! Your greedy ass is going to suffer at the hands of Lord Jashin. You and all the others sinners."

"Hidan if you don't shut up, I am going to sew your mouth shut."

"I will like to see you try" Hidan replied, reaching for his triple-bladed scythe.

"Hidan. Kakuzu. Enough with your childish argument" spoke Konan; successfully stopping the two from fighting.

"As I was saying before, our next target is the eight tails, and before you interrupt again Hidan. The reason why we aren't capturing the eight tails at this moment, is because Zetsu witness a large herd heading to Kumogakure as we speak. And we will use the distraction to capture the eight tails. Now that you all understand our plan, let get to the other matter at hand. Kisame where is Itachi."

"He left to go deal with his younger brother."

...

"Lord Raikage, we received a message from Sunagakure. They have been attacked by the Akatsuki and their Kazekage has been kidnapped. They are requesting help in dealing with them and rescuing the Kazekage."

"When were they attacked"

"Five hours ago sir, two members of the Akatsuki attacked the village and what should we do sir?"

"Tell them we're busy, our recon team has discover a large herd heading in our direction."

...

"My, my, what excellent specimen you brought Sasuke" said Orochimaru with an insane grin. The Sannin and the avenger were standing inside an empty room with a cage sitting in the center of the room. Arms were sticking out between the bars of the cage, reaching for the two beings in front of them.

"I did what you asked, now teach me how to kill Itachi."

"You sure are impatient Sasuke. I will teach you in due time, but first I got experiments to do."

Sasuke's eyes flashed red and he reached for the katana attached to his hip. Orochimaru responded with a dark grin before saying," You sure have gotten stronger over the years Sasuke, but you're still no match for me."

"We shall see" Sasuke responded, pulling the katana out of the sheath.

...

"How long do you think the crisis is going to last?" ask the Fire Daimyo.

"A couple of years. First my shinobi village needs to secure our borders, then they will send shinobi to the surrounding countries to clear them out. And in a couple of years, they will have clear the continent of them. Once that is done, then things will return back to what they were before this crisis" replied the Lightning Daimyo.

"You were always the optimistic, Yosuke"

"What do you mean by that, Hiromu?" asked Yosuke, looking at the Water Daimyo.

"You believe that this crisis will blow over in a couples of years. If that doesn't make you an optimistic, then that make you an idiot. Need I remind you that three of the five great shinobi villages has already fallen. What makes you so sure that the remaining two will be able to survive this crisis, or clear the creatures from the continent in a couple of years. And then their your other optimistic view, that things will return to the way they were before this crisis. Nothing will return to the way they were. The fallen shinobi villages won't be magically restored, nor will the people who died be brought back to life. The remaining land will be split between the two only super powers left. Nothing will be the same. The old world has died and a new one was born from the ashes."

...

"Baki, did we receive any response from Kumogakure."

"I am sorry Temari, but they have their own problems to deal with."

"Well we don't need their help anyway, we shouldn't have wasted our time asking them for help. Instead we could have rescued Gaara right now."

"We needed their help Temari. We have no chance on taking on the Akatsuki by ourselves. Just two of them managed to overwhelm our shinobi forces and defeated Gaara."

"We tried your plan, now it time to do mine. I want you to assemble as many shinobi as you can. We're going after Gaara, I won't lose my only family member left."

"I am sorry Temari, but we can't do that. Our recon team spotted a large herd heading our way. We need every shinobi we have to defend the village."

"Then I am going by myself to rescue Gaara."

"Temari wait! We are going to need your help in defending the village."

"But Gaara needs me."

"Gaara would never forgive you if you abandon the village in its time of need, to rescue him. He would want you to stay here and defend the village."

"I am sorry Baki, but I can't abandon Gaara. Even if he was going to hate me for the rest of my life. I won't abandon him."

"Very well, I won't stop you. Go and rescue Gaara, while the others and I hold the fort here."

"Thank you Baki. I will return with Gaara."


	10. Chapter 10

"Lets continue our search, we still have seven missing shinobi to locate. We will come back to retrieve his body once the others have been found" Kakashi said, breaking the silence that has fallen over them after Shikaku declaration.

"I doubt that the others are still alive. We should just head to the Kage tower and complete our mission" Anko said.

"Even so, we must find their remains. Their families deserve closure, and need I remind you that two of our own shinobi were apart of the joint team. We will find them because the shinobi of the hidden leaf don't abandon their comrades."

"Kakashi right, Anko. We don't abandon our comrades" Yamato said. After giving Yamato a quick nod, Kakashi order the team to move out.

...

"Zetsu did you bring me the specimen?" ask a masked person.

"Yes leader-sama" said the white side of Zetsu.

"**This better be worth our effort Obito**" the other side said. Realizing the mistake his darker side made, the white side of Zetsu tried to apologize. But he was silence when he sense the rising killing intent coming from the masked shinobi in front of him.

"If you want to continue breathing, then I suggest that you never call me by that name again."

"It will never happen again leader-sama."

"**Fine, but can I ask why we were rounding these creatures up. What do you plan to do with them.**"

"Research. I am going to learn what makes them tick, and when we capture the remaining Bijuu. I am going to use the information that I learned to eliminate them. I can't have them ruin the perfect world that I am going to create."

**"Ah! If you wanted information about these creatures, then you should have ask us. We encounter them before, during the age of the Sage.**"

...

After following the scent trail for an hour, they discover another corpse. The corpse was laying against the wall of a building. After examining the hitai-ate and the clothing, they discover the identity of the corpse. They have found the remains of one of the Kirigakure shinobi sent on the joint mission. And judging by the vest, they determine that the body belong to the Jounin. The cause of death was blood loss, and judging by the angle and shape of the stab wound, it was most likely caused by a ninjato piercing through the heart.

They were about to continue their search, when Hana notice a piece of paper crumbled up in the corpse's hand. Approaching the body, Hana crouched down and reached for the paper. As she reached for the paper, she notice movement from the corner of her eye. She look up and saw that the corpse was staring at her. Stumbling back in shock, she saw as the corpse's lips stretch into a snarl.

Quickly acting on her training as the corpse suddenly lunge forward, she successfully stop the corpse from pinning her down. As she wrestled with the decease body, her three ninken went on the attack. Two of them tackle the corpse off their friend/master. While they were pinning the struggling corpse down, the last ninken went for the killing blow. Lunging forward toward the unprotected throat, the dog bit down where the jugular vein would be. Shaking it head, the dog quickly tore out the corpse's throat. Black blood pour out of the open wound, but to the surprise of the others the corpse was still moving. It didn't even show signs that it was affected by the injury, it was still trying to bite the dogs pinning it down.

Ordering the dogs to move, Kakashi pulled out a kunai from his pouch. Charging the kunai with his natural affinity, Kakashi threw the lightning charge kunai at the corpse. The kunai pierce through the corpse's skull, and exit out the back of its head.

The corpse finally stop moving, but to make sure it was truly dead Kakashi threw more kunais at the body. Hitting multiple fatal points such as the lungs and the spine. Once they were sure that the corpse was truly dead, Shikaku carefully approach the body. Seeing that the corpse wasn't going to suddenly lunge at him, Shikaku crouched down to examine the remains.

"What the hell is it?" Anko ask.

"It human" Shikaku replied.

"Bullshit, humans don't get up after having their throats tore out, and there also the fact that it was supposed to be dead when we found it."

"It is human, or at least it once was. And it was dead when we discover it."

"What do you mean Shikaku? If it was dead then how was it still moving?" Yugao ask.

"Because of the state the body was found in. If you take a closer look, you would notice that the corpse is in the beginning stage of the decay process. And there also the fact of the stab wound, it was most likely caused by ninjato. A short sword commonly use by the ANBU and elite Jounin. The position of the entrance and exit wound on the body, means that it most likely pierce through the heart. A killing blow that would have killed a normal human. With that in mind, this man was dead long before we found him. Now what made him continue moving after death, I don't know."

"Could this be the work of a resurrection jutsu?" Yugao ask.

"It is possible, the Second Hokage isn't the only one with such a jutsu. Orochimaru recreated the Second Hokage jutsu and the shinobi villages have heard disturbing rumors that a group of shinobi were killing villageless clans to add to their army. Apparently they created their own resurrection jutsu, that animates the recently decease. And they use this jutsu to summon their undead army to attack other villageless clans, further increasing their army. They may have amass enough corpses for their jutsu, to overrun one of the great shinobi villages. And it is possible that the joint team was captured by this rogue group and killed to add to their army. But we will never know unless we head to the Kage tower."

"Don't think that would be a problem, as you notice we're heading closer to the tower, and I am willing to bet that we will find the rest of the joint team there. Whether they will be alive, dead, or neither. We will find out soon." Kakashi said.

...

Kumogakure and Sunagakure were the last shinobi villages left standing. The others have fallen long ago, and as long they stay standing the people will never give up. They were the last beacon of hope left in this dark world. They will prevail, they will overcome this darkness.

...

"Lord Raikage they have broken through the walls! We're being overrun!"

"Hold your positions! We can't let this village fall! We have countless of people relaying on us for their survival and I won't let them down!"

...

"Baki we have to abandon the village! There too many of them!"

"And go where!? There no safe zones left! No we won't abandon our home. We will overcome this and we will show these creatures the wraith of Sunagakure shinobi!"

...

By the end of the day, the last hope in the world has been extinguish.


End file.
